The International Vertebrate Pet Trade Network and Insights from US Imports of Exotic Pets

Abstract

The international trade in exotic vertebrate pets provides key social and economic benefits but also drives associated ecological, ethical, and human health impacts. However, despite its clear importance, we currently lack a full understanding of the structure of the pet trade, hampering efforts to optimize its benefits while mitigating its negative effects. In the present article, we represent and review the structure of the pet trade as a network composed of different market actors (nodes) and trade flows (links). We identify key data gaps in this network that, if filled, would enable network analyses to pinpoint targets for management. As a case study of how data-informed networks can realize this goal, we quantified spatial and temporal patterns in pets imported to the United States. Our framework and case study illustrate how network approaches can help to inform and manage the effects of the growing demand for exotic pets.

Ongoing amphibian trade into the United States threatens salamander biodiversity

“…As others have emphasized (Yap et al 2015), Los Angeles is especially important as a potential entry point for Bsal to the United States: the majority of live individuals belonging to Bsal carrier genera that entered the country in the post-Lacey Act period did so through this port. Los Angeles County also has a very high number of pet-related businesses that could act as dispersal hubs, distributing infected animals further across the landscape (Richgels et al 2016, Sinclair et al 2021).…”

The demand for wildlife not protected by the CITES multilateral treaty

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted March 4, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.03.482781 doi: bioRxiv preprint surveillance could aid in addressing current concerns regarding the need for managing wildlife trade based on zoonotic disease risks and invasion potential and further highlights the necessity for broader monitoring, data collection and regulation on a by species basis of the global wildlife trade (Sinclair et al, 2021).…”

“…Such tools (e.g., eCITES; CITES Secretariat, 2017) could be used to monitor major wildlife trade hubs for early detection and prevention of over-exploitation, trading of high-risk invasives and the presence of pathogen families in species considered reservoirs for emerging zoonotic disease. A network-wide approach would be near impossible to successfully implement without systematic monitoring of all species in the international legal trade network (Sinclair et al, 2021). This is illustrated in the US importations of unlisted species.…”

“…With an average of 93 new unlisted terrestrial vertebrate species entering US imports annually, this trade deserves closer inspection purely for biosecurity concerns. Increased trade surveillance could aid in addressing current concerns regarding the need for managing wildlife trade based on zoonotic disease risks and invasion potential and further highlights the necessity for broader monitoring, data collection and regulation on a by species basis of the global wildlife trade (Sinclair et al, 2021).…”

­­­Status and distribution of an introduced population of European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) in the western Great Lakes region of North America

“…Figure 5 shows that the majority of European Goldfinches imported into the U.S. from 2000-2005 were from Russia; all of these birds were imported by the Illinois company. The country of origin listed in import records may not have been where wild caught birds were actually collected, but rather the export location where birds harvested across a wider area are consolidated and shipped (Eskew et al 2020, Sinclair et al 2021. It seems likely that many of the European Goldfinches imported by the Illinois company prior to 2006 were collected somewhere in eastern Europe and central Asia.…”